This morning, the ambulance provider, MedStar, reported they had a spike in calls about crashes in the rain Monday and cold weather.

In addition to a reporter asking, reporters can also look things up. Last Tuesday, the high temperature at DFW Airport was 88 degrees. When I called MedStar, the temperature was 39.

Because Texas is a land of contrast, we had winter storm and ice storm warnings up while our neighbors to the southeast are expecting a hurricane.

Loyal Scaiaholics will recall my rich history with MedStar. When I called their public relations person, we started discussing our positions on cold weather.

I turned on the heat at the Ol’ Scaia Place this morning because the temperature had dropped to 61 inside. Matt Zavadsky explained this was the earliest they’d received cold weather calls in at least five years.

Last year, Loyal Scaiaholics will also recall, North Texas’ first freeze was earlier than normal. Our normal first freeze is November 22; last year was October 31.

In that blog, I explained how I got civilized. Now, when my brother (who became civilized in California) and I go home for Christmas, #MamaScaia will encourage us to spend time outside or go for a walk.

“It’s literally freezing out there,” I’ll reply.

Matt and I discussed our changing habits during that interview.

The CDC has a handsome graphic, showing how serious these cold weather stretches are. This blog, however, is not serious, so as a message to journalism students, always be on the look-out for natural sound: